


hair dye

by kibumist



Category: SHINee
Genre: Children, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Marriage, gonna dump all of my taekey fluff here, kibum n taemin are married and they have a little son, little domestic fluffs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-23
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:14:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,670
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27687446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kibumist/pseuds/kibumist
Summary: Kibum and Taemin are married, and they have an adorable son, but ever since Kibum shifted into parenthood, it has always felt like something was missing.
Relationships: Kim Kibum | Key/Lee Taemin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	hair dye

**Author's Note:**

> this is just some fluff derived from my wish to write about parents dyeing their hair and surprising their little babies

Kibum and Taemin have been married for a good couple of years now. They decided to tie the knot back in their fifth year of dating, and today they’re in their eighth year together, and everything has been going absolutely amazing; Taemin and Kibum’s romance still going strong, and it doesn’t seem to be faltering any time soon.

With their marriage also came lots of little changes. Well, maybe not so little. Because surprisingly, they have a son now, who they’ve lovingly named Jihoon. They happily adopted Jihoon one year into their marriage, and their little baby boy has now grown into a healthy one-year-old, soon having his second birthday later in the year.

Taemin and Kibum would have never thought they’d be able to have their own children back when they just got married, but today, they’ve never been more grateful. Their little family is happy and healthy and that is all that matters.

With parenting also comes a lot of challenges for Taemin and Kibum. They don’t have a lot of time for themselves now with how all of their attention and energy is gone into raising Jihoon and also their own respectful jobs. Kibum still remembers how they had to sacrifice so much sleep back when Jihoon was still a newborn baby. The once young and boisterous couple have blended into parenthood and can no longer run around chasing fun like they used to before they got married.  


Kibum wouldn’t change anything for the world, though. Jihoon is most definitely his whole universe now, and he absolutely doesn’t mind sparing all of his seconds to spend with his little son instead, even if it means he no longer could look after himself as much as he used to. Kibum also had to drop a lot of his old hobbies. He no longer spends as much in collecting fashion items for himself, instead, he now spends his time shopping for baby necessities. He no longer goes to the salon on the weekends to pamper himself after a long week of work, and instead now drags Taemin with him to attend parenting classes when they can. He no longer goes out with friends to bars or clubs during nighttime, and instead now spends his nights looking after Jihoon and experimenting with recipes for healthy and organic baby food. Kibum is definitely not playing around.

He also doesn’t dress up as much as he used to. It’s funny because one would call him an avid fashionista back before he and Taemin got married. He used to always be first in line when his favorite fashion brands drop a new collection, and he didn’t hesitate to spend money on even the most obnoxious looking items that are only excused by the public because it’s “fashion”. He also used to have a new hair color every season, coordinating his moods and interests with his appearance. It wasn’t just clothes or hair to him, it was self-expression.

But with parenthood, he no longer has the time to do any of that. His usual appearance now consists of unkempt natural dark hair with bangs that go over his eyebrows, his favorite go-to oversize beige cardigan that keeps him warm just right so that he doesn’t need to spend too much time in choosing comfortable clothes (Jihoon loves this cardigan anyway, it’s soft and he loves to grab the material when Kibum is holding him close), a regular t-shirt beneath the cardigan, and then some loose dark jeans that would go well with anything he wore. Compared to his appearance back before they had Jihoon, Kibum was now considerably a bland looking guy who looks so obviously in his late twenties and gives off a very “dad-like” aura. No more fashionista Instagram star, Kim Kibum.

All of this doesn’t go unnoticed by the people around him of course. Taemin has long caught the change happening in his doting husband. It didn’t happen all of a sudden, rather slowly, and only after a few months of having Jihoon did Taemin start to realize, “Ah, Kibum looks so different now.”.  


The whole shift into parenthood didn’t change much for Taemin, as he never really was one with too many hobbies (unlike Kibum who used to change interests every few months or so) and he never really sported too much interest in fashion and such (unlike Kibum, too). So, when he became a Dad, he didn’t really need to change anything about himself. He is just the same looking person as he was before he got married. The same thing cannot be said about Kibum, though.  


For the first few months with Jihoon, his husband had still put some effort into his looks but after the baby turned six months, he just gave up altogether. This doesn’t make Taemin necessarily worry for the elder, he just wishes Kibum could be less tense and give himself a break from the tiring task of raising a child. Taemin, of all people, definitely knows how hard it is.  


So, one day he decides to bring up the subject with Kibum over dinner.

“What about my hair?” the elder looks up from where he was feeding Jihoon their dinner, their baby sitting peacefully on his high chair. Taemin smiles at the elder.

“I don’t know, I just thought you’d be interested in dyeing your hair again,”

Kibum raised a brow. “Huh, what’s wrong with my hair now?”

“Nothing, babe, I just thought doing it again might give you a little thrill,” Taemin reassures him, taking another spoon of the dinner Kibum had prepared them. “You know how much I loved your blonde look,”

Kibum scoffed, “I don’t find it necessary to dye my hair anymore - _Jihoonie, here comes the train, aaaah _\- it takes too much time,” he said, the tone at the end of his sentence coming off as mellow.__

__Taemin frowns, “It would only take a one-time trip to the salon, though? You can go on the weekend, and I’ll take care of Jihoon for the day,” the younger says. “Kibum, you do know you can take a break and relax, right? Nothing wrong with doing things for your own satisfaction,”_ _

__The elder frowns as he scoops another spoonful of food, and feeds it to Jihoon._ _

__“I don’t know – _Jihoon, aaaaah_ – I feel like I’ve fallen out of it,”__

____“and that’s exactly why you should try it again! Who knows it’ll give you some little joy from changing your appearance?” Taemin tries again, putting a hand on Kibum’s arm. “I know how you used it as your own way of expressing yourself back then, babe, and nobody said you had to stop. You can definitely try it again.”_ _ _ _

____Kibum turns to look at the younger, a skeptical look on his face._ _ _ _

____“I don’t know,” he murmurs. “I’m a dad now.”_ _ _ _

____“and so?”_ _ _ _

____“I have a son,”_ _ _ _

____“It’s alright, Bummie, that shouldn’t stop you from doing stuff to make yourself happy,” Taemin softly says._ _ _ _

____“But I am happy,” Kibum presses, scooping through the remaining food on Jihoon's bowl. “I don’t need to do stuff like that anymore in order to make myself feel good, just being here with you and Jihoon makes me happy,”_ _ _ _

____Taemin sighs, “You know that’s not the point, babe,”_ _ _ _

____Kibum looks back at him again, “You don’t need to worry about things like that, Taemin. I’m fine, I don’t have much interest in doing the old things I used to do back before Jihoon,” he leans over to peck the younger on the cheek. “I feel good already.”_ _ _ _

____Taemin smiles sadly at the elder, “Alright then.”_ _ _ _

____Thus, after the whole conversation, Taemin’s need to reassure Kibum about these things slowly fade away, as he has been convinced that yes, perhaps Kibum is now fine with his fading period of youth and is already happy with what they have now._ _ _ _

____It comforts him to know that his husband doesn’t feel like he’s been robbed of the opportunities in life that used to come so easily back when they were younger. If Kibum is fine, Taemin is fine._ _ _ _

____Except one night, when the couple lay in their bed facing each other right after putting Jihoon to sleep, Kibum softly asks, “Do you really think so?”  
_Taemin raises his eyebrows, surprised with the sudden question._ _ _ _ _

____“Think about what?”_ _ _ _

____“That it would be okay for me to dye my hair again.”_ _ _ _

____Taemin smiles and leans closer to the elder, running his hand through the soft dark locks that once used to glow in the colors of the rainbow._ _ _ _

____“Of course, baby, nothing’s stopping you,”_ _ _ _

____Kibum sighs, shuffling closer to Taemin and resting his head on his lover’s chest._ _ _ _

____“I just feel like, now that I look back at those years, it felt like reckless behavior,”_ _ _ _

____“What? Dyeing your hair the color of unicorn feces back when we were freshmen?”_ _ _ _

____Kibum hit the younger’s chest lightly, chuckling._ _ _ _

____“Well, also, the impulsive shopping for branded shoes, but whatever,” he giggles. “Those were kind of worth it,”_ _ _ _

____Taemin laughs, circling an arm around the raven-haired man’s waist. “It wasn’t that reckless; those were just your little hobbies. Besides, you always used your own money,” he says._ _ _ _

____Kibum laughs, “You never wanted to buy anything for me with your money back then!”_ _ _ _

____“I was the one who proposed though, I got you the ring,” Taemin reminds the man teasingly. Kibum scoffs, lifting his hand up and stretching his fingers. The ring gleams brightly on his ring finger._ _ _ _

____“Still couldn’t have hurt getting me some Gucci, though,”_ _ _ _

____“You say that like I never have! Did you forget your birthday a year before our marriage? Gucci shoes or whatever those were,”_ _ _ _

____Kibum gasps, and he looks up at Taemin. “Oh my God, I wonder where I’ve put that one away,” he whispers. “I did some crazy reorganizing a few months after Jihoon came around and put away all my old clothes in the storage. It would be hell to look for it again,”_ _ _ _

____Taemin smirks, “You didn’t have to, you know. It wouldn’t have hurt to keep your old clothes in our closet, some of them were really valuable after all,”_ _ _ _

____Kibum huffs, “yeah I know, it’s just, well, ugh, you know that whole identity crisis I had right after we had Jihoon… I just didn’t think I should be wearing such flashy stuff anymore, it just didn’t suit me,” he stares at the ceiling, frowning, “I thought, I’m a dad now, I felt like I needed to change my whole character.”_ _ _ _

____Taemin holds Kibum closer and presses a kiss onto his forehead._ _ _ _

____“Well you thought wrong, baby,” he whispers. “Nothing should stop you from doing what you love, and if what you love is dressing the way you used to, all obnoxious and exclusive, then I don’t know why you shouldn’t go back to doing that,”_ _ _ _

____“Wouldn’t it be strange?”_ _ _ _

____“Of course not,” Taemin kisses his forehead again, holding the elder’s hand and bringing it up to kiss his knuckles one by one._ _ _ _

____Kibum sighs. “Maybe… I’ve thought about it a lot since you brought it up last week,” he says. “I guess I’ve been in some sort of denial. I keep on telling myself I’m fine with giving up all my hobbies, but when you brought it up again, I just felt struck with a realization.”_ _ _ _

____Taemin smiles, “It was your self-expression after all,” he mutters. “A unique one, too,”_ _ _ _

____Kibum laughs and scoots up to Taemin, cupping the younger’s face in his hands and pressing their lips together in a soft, languid kiss. Taemin makes a delighted noise, running his hair through Kibum’s soft locks._ _ _ _

____Once they pull away, Kibum puts their foreheads together._ _ _ _

____“Maybe I could start with my hair first,” he suggests, smiling cheekily._ _ _ _

____Taemin hums happily, “Yes, I would love to see it,” he smiles at the elder, pecking his lips once again._ _ _ _

____“Hmmm, I’ve been feeling a lot of green lately,” Kibum says, “Is there any color you want me to try?”_ _ _ _

____Taemin kisses him again, “Anything you want, baby, but you know how I have a soft spot for blonde-haired Kibum,”_ _ _ _

____Kibum laughs excitedly, “I might just coordinate the two,”_ _ _ _

____“You better,” Taemin says before putting his lips on Kibum’s once again._ _ _ _

____A week later, Kibum ends up dyeing his hair a bright teal green, but also ended up with some soft wavy curls which the hairdresser had styled on him. He felt fresh, and confident, like a small piece of the puzzle was put back into place. This felt nice. This felt good,_ _ _ _

____On his way home from the salon, Kibum told Taemin, who’s watching after Jihoon, to bring their son to the front door when he comes because he can’t wait to coax the best reaction out of Jihoon._ _ _ _

____So, when he arrives at their house, Kibum presses the doorbell excitedly, feeling giddy. When the door opens to reveal Taemin holding a smiley Jihoon on his hip, Kibum almost squeals._ _ _ _

____“Hi, sunshine!” Kibum cheered, arms out to carefully take Jihoon out of Taemin’s grasp. “It’s daddy!”_ _ _ _

____Jihoon looks taken aback, his eyes so wide as he stares intensely onto his father’s new bright colored hair. Kibum laughs, “Jihoon-ah, it’s daddy!” he says as he blows a raspberry on the baby’s cheek. This action, however, did not make his son happy._ _ _ _

____Jihoon suddenly bursts out crying at Kibum’s face and tries to reach out to Taemin instead (who ends up laughing way too hard), asking to be picked up. Kibum stares in shock because it turns out Jihoon didn’t recognize him at all. Taemin cackles._ _ _ _

____“That’s daddy, Jihoonie! Daddy! Daddy but with green hair!” Taemin tries as he points at Kibum who looks like he’s almost pouting._ _ _ _

____Jihoon bites his thumb, looking at Kibum with teary eyes, “n-no daddy,” the baby whispers and goes to hide his face on the crook of Taemin’s neck._ _ _ _

____Taemin laughs, “Oh my god he actually doesn’t recognize you!”_ _ _ _

____Kibum is appalled. “Maybe this is a bad idea after all, oh god,” he says._ _ _ _

____But later on, throughout the day Jihoon learns that the green-haired weird looking man is in fact his other father, and somehow after discovering this, Jihoon’s fear of Kibum’s newly dyed hair magically disappears. By the afternoon he is already laying on Kibum’s chest on their sofa, softly touching his dad’s green locks and staring at it in fascination. Making little sounds in awe, like “wo…” “ua…” and Kibum envelopes his little son so hard every time, feeling happy that Jihoon approves of his new change._ _ _ _

____Taemin keeps telling their son that his daddy’s new hair is pretty and tells him to compliment Kibum when he can in order to teach Jihoon to be nice to people and also to help Kibum feel confident, and so afterward Jihoon never misses a chance to tell Kibum that “daddy gween hair pwetty,” and it makes Kibum sob in joy every time._ _ _ _

____Jihoon ends up being the one who likes Kibum’s hair the most out of all of them, always touching it and caressing it whenever Kibum picks him up and it makes the man so unbelievably happy that his son finds his hair pretty. He was neglecting his special interests for no reason!  
_Taemin also never fails to tell him how good he looks with the new hair. “I love it the most when I’m running my fingers through your hair like this,” he says, softly caressing the elder’s hair before suddenly yanking him forward to press their mouths in a kiss. Kibum laughs, “you’re a pervert!”_ _ _ _ _

____Later on, Kibum thought it wouldn’t hurt to dye his hair with Jihoon’s favorite color next. Perhaps it would enthuse the baby even more._ _ _ _

____So, one day, when they’re playing in the living room, Kibum decides to ask his son, “What’s your favorite color right now, baby?”  
_Jihoon looks at him, makes a humming sound as if he is deep in thought._ _ _ _ _

____“Now,” the baby says. “Ji likes rainbow.”_ _ _ _

_____Here we go again _, Kibum thinks.__ _ _ _ _

**Author's Note:**

> i'm thinking of making this like a chaptered little domestic AU of taekey's life and little jihoon :D  
> i'll dump all my domestic goodness on here hehe


End file.
